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In particular, what's the difference between uncertainty and measurement noise in engineering?

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    You need to ask elsewhere, perhaps in an electronics or physics group.
    – Hot Licks
    Jun 23, 2020 at 12:01

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Essentially, noise is the result of having picked up something you didn't want, and uncertainty is the result of having not picked up something you did want.

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    So you're uncertain about that prostitute last night?
    – Hot Licks
    Jul 5, 2020 at 16:28
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    @HotLicks Well, I'm not sure.
    – Phil Sweet
    Jul 5, 2020 at 16:43
  • My understanding of uncertainty in this sense is that it's a product of the coarseness of the measuring equipment. For instance if your measuring equipment is 90% accurate the uncertainly is 10%.
    – BoldBen
    Jul 5, 2020 at 18:06
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Noise is a concrete noun (for the want of the correct linguistic term). It is used to describe the background events that occur whether or not an experimental disturbance (producing specific signals of interest) is present.

Uncertainty is an abstract noun for the condition resulting from being unable to distinguish or separate the above signal from the “noise”.

Although the usage is technical, the grammatical difference between the two nouns should be evident.

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